New Seasonal Flavors of Dunkin' Donuts at Grocery + a Giveaway!

Coffee! The smell alone of it brewing early in the morning is enough to entice me out of my cozy bed. Jim is a simple man that knows what he likes, and he likes his coffee plain and black. He pours a cup and then is out the door. I take my time with my morning joe. I'm a "dessert first" kind of gal and like to sweeten my coffee with cream and sugar, maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon or a flavored syrup.

When I was asked to review two new flavors of Dunkin' Donuts at Grocery coffee, I jumped at the chance...especially after I found out what their Spring Seasonal Flavors are!


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Dunkin' Donuts at Grocery {Winner Announced!}

The Dunkin' Donuts Coffee at Grocery Giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who left comments, I got a kick out of reading the morning routines of some of my HWM readers. I used random.org to select the winner...drum roll please... Congrats to Ms. W!

Contact me at homewithmandy @ gmail dot com with your mailing address and Dunkin Donuts at Grocery will ship you one bag of Original Blend, one bag of Decaf, and two Dunkin’ Donuts mugs.

Have a SUPERbowl SUNDAY everyone!

Morning Routines and a Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Giveaway

Sticking to a morning routine is essential for me. I've been out of college for ten years and one would think that I would have this morning thing down by now. When one wrench is thrown my way, I'm either late or probably forgot something and I'm for sure frazzled by the time I reach the office.

Here is my IDEAL morning routine:

• 5:30 AM, Alarm goes off, I snooze for 10 minutes.
• 5:40 AM, Jim calls from CA (it's 3:40 AM there and he's working a night shift).
• 5:45 AM, Jim has talked me out of bed and my feet hit the floor.
• 5:55 AM, I've managed to brush my teeth and put on workout clothes (yoga pants, t-shirt, sneakers, head band).
• 6:00 AM, I'm out the door on my way to the gym (water bottle, protein bar, ipod, towel, chapstick).
• 6:50 AM, Legs are tired, arms are exhausted, I'm sweaty and in need of a shower...bad!
• 7:00 AM, Feed the dogs, (second) breakfast for me, shower, COFFEE, get ready for work.
• 8:00 AM, *Out the door and headed to the office.
  
  
  
  
  

There are any number of things that can go wrong - starting with me turning my alarm OFF instead of snoozing and then ignoring the phone call from my husband, which never goes over very well.

Click here to continue reading this post and for the Giveaway!

Chocolate Brownies and a Giveaway

Chocolate for miles! These fudgy brownies with walnuts were tall, dense and delicious. They were only made better by a clever swap that reduced the calories from sugar and added a boost of fiber! 

I think you would agree that living a healthier lifestyle starts with making small, good-for-you choices every day. My biggest healthy living tip is to try and eat breakfast at home instead of buying something on your way to work. I like to keep hard boiled eggs, fresh cut up fruit and greek yogurt in my fridge. Prepping these items at the beginning of the week makes it super easy for me to grab something healthy during a busy morning.

A University of Massachusetts study discovered that people who eat out instead of at home are more than twice as likely to be obese. The reason? Restaurant portions tend to be larger than those you cook at home, and you're more likely to make an unhealthy decision at a drive-thru or convenience store.

On those days when you must have something to satisfy your sweet tooth, here is a decadent brownie recipe to try. Everything in moderation, right?

Here is what you need:
1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener
1 cup Sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups chopped walnuts

Click to read more!

My New Cocinaware and a Giveaway

Do you own a dutch oven? Other than my chef knife, my most favorite piece of cookware is the dutch oven I recieved as a wedding gift. This versitle piece of cookware is cast iron with a sturdy enamel glaze and not only heats fast, but uniformely as well. This is what makes the dutch oven perfect for sautéing, baking, roasting, braising, or frying. Now days you can buy dutch ovens in a rainbow of colors to coordinate with your kitchen and take it straight from the oven to the table. If you take care of it, a dutch oven will last you a lifetime.

You can imagine how excited I was when H-E-B sent me their new 5.2 QT Round Dutch Oven to try and review. If you don't have a dutch oven, I urge you to go to your local store and check out their new line of Cocinaware that was just rolled out. I made Lemon Chicken in this beautiful cobalt blue dutch oven and I was so impressed with this product. At less than $30 it performed just as well as my more expensive wedding gift. I really appreciated the weight of the pot and lid, you can tell that it's a quality piece of cookware.

The best feature was under the lid. The Cocinaware dutch oven has dimples underneath that continually baste the food while it cooks. This means you don't have to flip a roast halfway through cooking or stop every half hour to spoon liquid over the top of your dish while it's in the oven. It's brilliant!

Click to read more and find out about my giveaway...

A Sweet Easter Giveaway

{The Giveaway is now closed. Scroll down to the bottom to see who the lucky four winners are.}

I haven't had a giveaway on this site for a while, and now that it is Spring time and Easter is right around the corner... let's give some sweet treats away!

If you live in Austin, Texas then you are very lucky to have access to this fabulous company. Iffy's Sweets and Treats was established this year to pay homage to bite-sized baked treats. From time-tested treats like cupcakes, to the more trendy cake pops, to the sophisticated French macaron, Iffy is dedicated to pleasing your taste buds with a delectable palette of her simply delicious sweets and treats.